Brewing small batches of craft beer in a 650 sqft apartment

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After many months of lagering in keg, my June-brewed German Pilsner is very nice. SMaSH in recipe, this hop-forward, session-style lager shines with simplicity. Like its cousin, Session Helles, this small, 2.5 gallon batch was intended to grow lager yeast for the 2014 Fall German Lagers. My only wish was that I had more than … Continue reading →

Pitching rate is an important factor in the brewing process. Although not the only variable in clean fermentation, pitching rate plays a key role in lag-time, attenuation, and yeast-derived flavor production. From the brewing literature, “rule-of-thumb” pitching rates are tailored for harvested and re-pitched yeast on the commercial scale. However, when using lab-grown, propagated yeast … Continue reading →

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been tweaking my brewing process. As such, I recently updated my brewing equipment. No longer am I a carboy shaker and ice bath maker as I’ve acquired an oxygen system and wort chiller. To test out the new goods, I decided to make an extract beer to cut out … Continue reading →

After 3 weeks of fermentation and 1 month of lagering, the Session Helles is wonderful and incredibly refreshing. Intended to grow lager yeast for future batches, this small batch re-brew of a session-style Munich Helles came out great. A review and recipe below. Cheers, and happy brewing! Review Pouring into a teacup, the Session Helles … Continue reading →

Pitching rate is an important factor in the brewing process. Although not the only variable in clean fermentation, pitching rate plays a key role in lag-time, attenuation, and yeast-derived flavor production. From the brewing literature, “rule-of-thumb” pitching rates are tailored for harvested and re-pitched yeast on the commercial scale. However, when using lab-grown, propagated yeast … Continue reading →

Recently, I obtained a sack of floor-malted Czech pilsner malt from Adelbert’s Brewery in Austin, TX. Having never used this malt before, I brewed up a small, three gallon test batch to get a better understanding of its malt character. Similarly, wanting to know more about the Wyeast California Lager yeast character and Hersbrucker hops, … Continue reading →

Homebrewing is a great hobby. As a homebrewer and apartment brewer, nothing is more rewarding than brewing and fermenting your own creations and sharing them with friends and family. If you’ve found this blog post, you’re likely looking into starting the hobby and want to understand the equipment necessary to start brewing your first batch … Continue reading →

On Saturday, I attended the July monthly meeting of my homebrew club, Austin Zealots. It was held at Adelbert’s Brewery in Austin, TX, a Belgian-style brewery about 15 minutes north of downtown Austin. The style for this month was meads, and many members brought their very best, including a fantastic vanilla-cardamom and well-aged pineapple-coconut mead. … Continue reading →

Six weeks since brew day, the Craft A Brew Brown Ale has finished fermentation, bottle-conditioned, and is now ready to drink. After racking from the primary, I yielded 9 bottles and some tasty hydrometer samples. Overall, I’m quite pleased with this one-gallon brown ale extract kit, and from this, hope to play with one-gallon batches … Continue reading →

Having washed the yeast from the primary fermentation of the Barrel Project Sour Saison in April, I was keen to make another saison-like beer for the summertime. Along with being on a hop-kick, I was inspired to make a hoppy farmhouse ale of sorts. Anticipating the ultra-high attenuation of Wyeast French Saison, I designed a … Continue reading →